I am always left scratching my head after Gopher games and how people react to them. I will say I underestimated TCU they are a much better team than what I was expecting and their defense was very impressive. They showed good team speed and were very prepared for what they were going to see. Having a week off between games really helped them. The TCU offense wasn't nearly as impressive but it didn't need to be.
Now for the Gophers. The team is severely flawed on offense and it allows teams to easily game plan against them. The inability to throw the football on an average level allows teams to bring extra defenders up to the line of scrimmage and overwhelm what is a pretty good offensive line. Throw in the use of two to three TE's on so many plays the Gophers simply don't have much room to run. This issue is not going to be fixed during this season because unlike the NFL you simply cant trade for a better QB in college. You must rely on the team improving from within. I see people blaming the offensive line for the struggles of the offense, well that is a byproduct of the lack of a passing game. I would like to say the issue is the lack of WR play but I see far to many open pass catchers who are more times than not overthrown or ignored by a QB locked in on one player. To have an offense that works especially one based on a strong running game needs to have a threat in the passing game. That passing game must pick up first downs and it must make teams pay for leaving receivers open down the field. I am not sure right now defenses would have to cover anyone other than Williams because our QB doesn't look to throw to anyone else unless its a dump off pass. When he does throw its not a lock to be close to the intended target.
I am getting tired of reading scouting reports especially from recruits that are QBs that mention them being great leaders and WR's that are great blockers. These things are of course good things, don't get me wrong. I want to start reading about QB recruits that are known for their big accurate arms, Wide Receiver who have great hands and get open, and most of all I want to see recruits that have top notch physical tools for the positions they will play. I am starting to think scouting reports that say "this QB is a great leader" is really saying "this QB cant throw a lick but he can run a little and takes a beating". Great run blocking WR's must be the line given to WR's who cant get open or wont catch it if they were open. I understand the Gophers need complete players at every position but it just seems to me that to many of our recruits are being overhyped by secondary skills. A great WR for example will take up a defender if he can block or not. A QB needs to be able to lead the team but if he cant throw he isn't leading them anywhere.
